Inclusive Education Initiative Newsletter #25

Dear IEI Members,

This community keeps growing. We are thrilled to report that we recently reached an incredible milestone of more than 27,000 members on our LinkedIn Community of Practice!

Thank you so much for being with us, for your continuous participation and contributions, and for your passion for achieving the goal of ensuring all children have access to quality, inclusive education. This community would not exist without you! Today, however, after four years of the IEI CoP, we want to hear from you.

Please take the time to answer our brief survey because your opinion is extremely important to us! Your responses will help us understand how we can improve the value and impact of this community.

We have seen so many good things going on for children with disabilities around the world and happy to share some of those here in this newsletter.

Please reach out to us if you have a blog post or anything else you would like featured on the IEI website—we are happy to feature your work on disability-inclusive education.  You can email us at iei@worldbank.org or join our LinkedIn Group and post questions directly there.

All the best,
The Inclusive Education Initiative Team

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION INITIATIVE
Using Principles of Universal Design for Assessment (UDA) Design Accessible Learning Assessments

GIRLS' EDUCATION CHALLENGE
Educating Girls with Disabilities

USAID
Disability Inclusive Education Toolkit
This toolkit provides guidance and resources for integrating disability into the USAID Program Cycle. It consists of six parts: Country and Regional Strategic Planning; Project and Activity; Design; Project and Activity Implementation; Monitoring and Evaluation; Learning and Adapting; and Event Accessibility.

USAID
Disability-Inclusive Pre-Primary Education White Paper
This White Paper is designed for donors, education practitioners, and governments, and uses the evidence base from high-income countries to show how disability-inclusive pre-primary education (PPE) programming can be realized internationally, with examples of existing promising practice from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These promising practices were obtained through a comprehensive landscape as well as global and regional ideation events with experts in disability and PPE. The White Paper also provides background on the status of disability-inclusive PPE worldwide and principles of disability-inclusive PPE that should apply to all programs. 

UNICEF
Multi-Country Overview of Barriers and Opportunities for Children and Adolescents with Disabilities
This report is a regional synthesis of assessments of barriers and opportunities for children and adolescents with disabilities in Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The report highlights promising practices in laws and policies, service provision, availability of data and evidence, and changing attitudes and behaviors towards children with disabilities.

UNESCO
Global education monitoring report, 2023: technology in education: a tool on whose terms?
In asking ‘A tool on whose terms?’, the Report shows that regulations for technology set outside of the education sector will not necessarily address education’s needs. It is released along with a #TechOnOurTerms campaign, calling for decisions about technology in education to prioritize learner needs after assessment of whether its application would be appropriate, equitable, evidence-based and sustainable. It provides a compass for policy makers to use when making these decisions.

WORLD BANK 
Inclusive Early Childhood Education for Children with Disabilities in Indonesia
Globally, having disabilities can double the chance of never accessing school, and even if they go to school they tend to drop out before completing primary education. Indonesia is no exception, and despite the government’s efforts in recent decades, in particular, inclusive early childhood education (ECE) for children with disabilities is still significantly overlooked in policy, practice and empirical research. Rather, inclusive education policy and programs often highlight primary and secondary education, meanwhile inclusion is not a key focus in ECE in Indonesia.

WORLD BANK
Assistive Technologies for Children with Disabilities in Inclusive and Special Schools in Indonesia
This study addresses this knowledge gap, focusing on the Indonesian context. This empirical study of the Indonesian context aims to rigorously examine availability and usage of assistive technologies for children with disabilities. It reviews key challenges and support needed in both inclusive and special schools, focusing on teachers in primary and secondary education in Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (MoECRT).

UNICEF
Disability-Inclusive Humanitarian Action Toolkit
This toolkit is a set of short guidance, practical tools, and capacity-building packages that provide operational guidance on including children with disabilities in humanitarian action. In accordance with the UNICEF Core Commitments for Children (CCCs) in Humanitarian Action, the toolkit provides practical information on how to plan, coordinate, implement and monitor humanitarian responses that address the needs and priorities of children with disabilities. The toolkit’s development was led by UNICEF in collaboration with CBM Global and its Inclusion Advisory Group. 

UNICEF, UN Women, WHO, ILO, FAO, UNDP, UNFPA and UNPRPD
Working together to ensure the right of girls with disabilities to live free from violence
UNICEF, UN Women, WHO, ILO, FAO, UNDP, UNFPA and UNPRPD worked together to develop an inter-agency statement on violence against girls with disabilities, listing the main rights violations they face, along with key advocacy messages targeting States, international organizations, civil society and any other stakeholders, highlighting areas where the implementation of the right of girls with disabilities to be free from violence can be strengthened..

DISABILITY RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL (DRI)
Families Find a Way: Children with disabilities in war-torn Ukraine
Disability Right International asked more than 500 brave and courageous families living in Ukraine what they are now experiencing during the war and what they need.

These interviews provide a blueprint of the change that must occur – by governments, donors, policymakers, caregivers, and communities during the war and recovery process. We must hear their stories and listen to their voices.

A New Guide on Sensory Disability for Student Teachers is Bridging the Education Gap in Côte d’Ivoire
Global Partnership for Education -   by Dominique Ngoma Nkenzo, Education Out Loud 
October 09, 2023
Teachers in Côte d’Ivoire often misinterpret and downplay sensory disabilities, despite their significant effect on children’s learning capacity. A new guide, developed with the support of GPE’s Education Out Loud, now equips them to identify and better support children with sensory disabilities.

Equipping Teachers for More Inclusive Classrooms
World Education - A division of JSI
October 4, 2023
Ms. Shanta is a dedicated secondary school resource teacher in Nepal for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Though Ms. Shanta used basic sign language practices, her students faced challenges engaging in lessons, as well as integrating with hearing teachers and students beyond their classroom who did not sign. With limited resources at her disposal, Ms. Shanta did her best, but the absence of support in prioritizing classroom management, arranging her students’ seating, and accessing teaching and learning materials made the learning environment challenging for both her and her students.

Every Child Welcome: Teaching Students of All Abilities
USAID - Rwanda News
October 2023
Nkobmo is stunning, but hard to reach. Surrounded by the lush green hills, this little island in Lake Kivu is home to just over 18,000 people. The small community sticks together, cherishing the tradition of Mashi, a dialect closely linked to the Masi people of southern Africa. To prosper here one must fit in, and be one with the community. 

Unlocking the Power of Inclusion: The Imperative for Disability-Inclusive Data
GPE -  by Catherine Wilczek, UNESCO Bangkok, and Qianyu Li, UNESCO Bangkok
August 8, 2023
With learners with disabilities remaining invisible in many education sector plans due to the absence of accurate data about them, producing and using disability-inclusive data appears crucial for making education more inclusive.

The ‘Missing Children’: Why We Urgently Need an Inclusive Approach to Education in Emergencies
BOND -  by Takyiwa Danso, Inclusive Education Policy Officer at Sightsavers
August 7, 2023
As we cross the halfway mark of 2023, the world has already been rocked by several major humanitarian crises that have impacted children’s education. 
The scale of emergencies this year has strained education systems around the world already buckling under the weight of significant challenges, including a funding gap worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic (estimated at $100 billion) which is hindering progress in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4.

Humanitarian cash transfers changing the lives of persons with disabilities affected by emergencies
UNICEF Ethiopia -  by Diana Hodulikova & Kristel Juriloo,
July 4, 2023
With funding from SIDA, FCDO, and CERF, unconditional shock responsive cash transfer top-ups reached over 2500 households with persons with disabilities in Amhara and Somali, Ethiopia.

Closing the data gap on children with disabilities: The case for data harmonization and partnerships
World Data Forum
June 2023
Disability is a multidimensional concept and various data sources within a country are needed to obtain a holistic picture of children with disabilities and their lived experiences. These data sources need to cover a range of topics, from the personal characteristics of an individual child to her or his access to assistive devices, benefits and services. 

Lila Kossyvaki on Severe Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities
Goal 4 podcast
24 May, 2023
The Associate Professor in Severe, Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities at University of Birmingham discusses resources and support for learners, aligning PMLD with 'all means all', and how inclusion should be seen as a feeling, not a place. You can find out more about Lila's research here.

STEM Courses in Rural Kenya Open Doors for Girls With Disabilities
Voice of America (VOA) News
15 May, 2023
Program offers adaptive resources to teach girls with hearing, visual and other kinds of impairments.